OTAGO.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1776, 7 October 1862, Page 3

OTAGO.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE

GREAT RUSH FROM MELBOURNE

20,000 OUNCES OF GOLD ON ITS WAY. 1

FROM THE DUN STAN DIGGINGS.

ARRIVAL OF 3,500 PASSENGERS

The brig Remark arrived iv this harbor on Saturday afternoon, and through the courtesy of Captain Duucan, we are iv receipt of the Colonist of the 29tb, and the Daily Times of the 24th ultimo, besides previous iiles.

Captain Duncan reports that just belore he left on the 30th September, a statement was in circulation wbich he believed to be Irue, that 20,000 ounces of gold were, at last advices, on its way from the Duustau diggings.

The Result, City of Melbourne, Lightning, and other vessels had arrived from Melbourne with 3,500 passengers, bound for the new diggings.

The following extracts from the papers sent, will present Our reaaers with the latest items of southern intelligence.

The Colonist ol the 29th ult., says, —

The Spring " rush " has fairly commenced. During yesterday, near a thousand persons were added to our population, and from private advices received from Melbourne we learn that thousands in Victoria were on the move, or contemplating a move for Otago.

A disgraceful disturbance took place in the Arcade on Saturday night, in which some of the Military stationed here played a prominent part. A rumour was current in town yesterday that a new gold-field had been discovered within 2U miles of Waikouaiti, but we are not in, possession of any further particulars. lc is said that the entire absence of beef and mutton from our market during the greater part of last week, oaused the total destruction of every pig in the district to serve as a substitute. Last Saturday the price asked for pork in some of the establishments ranged from Is. l)d. to 2s. per pound.

Dates frooi Melbourne had been received at the South, up to the 19th, and the following quotations from papers in the Mining Districts, will show the effect of the New Zealand Intelligence there —

The New Zealand Fever. — The district will loose a large number of miners by the attractions at present offering in New Zealand. Several parties have already left, and many more are making preparations for an immediate start. Although our population may be reduced by the exodus, we must not anticipate any falling off of trade, for where payable claims are left, other miners will take them up, and will have the advantage of being in receipt of good wages instead of working for mere bread. Those careful men who are withdrawing their deposits from the various banks, will likely be replaced in their claims by other miners more liberal with their cash, and more speculative in opening new ground. So, however much the bankers may dislike paying deposit. receipts, we anticipate" that the trading public will be no losers by the transaction. Ovens Constitution, Sept. 16. We learn from the Kyneton Station that since the latest New Zealand news arrived, 1709 persons have booked for Melbourne, and that probably an equal number, frightened by the high fare charged, preferred walking to town to. giving their mite towards the payment of the railway loan. Kyneton being the focus, as it were, of travellers fiotn Sandhurst, Oastlemaine, Inglewood, Dunolly, Maryborough, and Maldon, we may, we think, congratulate ourselves that matters are no worse, more especially, when it is remembered that the ordinary traffic on the line is considerable. — Bendigo Advertiser, September 13.

The following is extracted from a leading article in the Sydney Morning Herald, of the 10th riepteinber. The rush to Otago which had slackened fora little, seems to have set in again with renewed force. A fresh discovery in a new locality has been made, and for richness it promises not only to equal, but even to eclipse, all the other Otago gold-fields. The new El Dorado is a hundred miles from Dunedin, but this distance is nothing to a seasoned gold-digger, and, moreover, a largo part of the journey may b 8 performed by water. The Province of Otago has developed auriferous resources to an extent which has surprised both theoretical geologists and practical men. When the first field was opened up, it was eonsipered by many, who were thought to be very knowing on such subjects, that it would turn out to be a rich patch and nothing more. However, the area at" gold-field has widened, and is still widening, and no one will pretend to say now what are its limits. Australasia is a wonderful country for concealing its treasures, and then suddenly unfolding them. The fresh discoveries made by gold-seeking prospectors, come upon tue public with ever new surprises, like the discoveries of explorers and squatting prospectors. More wealth on the surface, and more wealth underground, is continually being disclosed. Where deserts were supposed to be, we find green pas- i tures and running streams, where barren rocks and wild gullies seemed to indicate an almost useless country, it turns out that there are hidden treasnres. Let no one, therefore, be rash in condemning any part of Australasia as barren and unproductive. The most unlikely places may turn out to have an unsuspected value. The winter in Otago has hitherto been considered as a drawback. In this the most southerly of Australasian settlements, the winter climate has a European rigor. But it never seems to have been severe enough to have absolutely prohibited working to those who wore adventurous and hardy enough to stay. Indeed, the weather does not seem to have been a bit severer, if so severe as that experienced last winter at Kiandra. The new gold-tifild, however, by way of contrast, is more workable in winter than in summer, for, the gold being in the river-bed, it is most come-at-able when the water is low, and this happens in the winter time, for in summer the snows which rest upon the mountains melt and swell the streams. Gold-digging on river bars is an operation familiar enough to diggers from California or British Columbia; but it ia almost a new art to Australians. It is one, however, that they will very soon learn, and in which they will become profiicient enough, if they only have scope for practice ."

There was no intelligence from the other mining districts in Otago.